Eyes of Loki
by Echante
Summary: When Addison, a goddess, falls in love with Mark, a mortal, problems break out among the Gods and opposing families frown upon the union. Can love prevail? Mark/Addison Some : Mark/Lexie, Derek/Meredith, Mark/Derek friendship
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I should not be starting another fanfic. And I'm not sure if I will continue this but I wanted to get this down because I thought it was a wonderful idea. Anyway, review if you want me to continue. Also, I take great enjoyment in the fact that 'Lexie' is not in the spell-check dictionary.

Background Info: This story relates a lot to Norse Mythology, and I hope I explain it well enough in the story but if not, leave a question in a review or pm me and I'll try to sort it out. Loki, for my purposes, is just the god of deception and a 'trickster,' I'm getting rid of the part where he is the god of murder and he is never married. Also, Mark was a man-whore but is now reformed and engaged to Lexie. The whole Derek/Addison/Mark thing has never happened and Derek/Meredith are happily married to each other.

_The room shivers as howls laugh through its hallways and bounce from its walls, she walks in, confident and nerved, chin held high and smirk splayed across her face. When she arrives at the center of the room, she bows to acknowledge the man on the throne and sings their song as it was meant to be sung._

_"From you I came; I came a daughter----_

_For you I serve; I serve my father."_

_She recites it to his court, amused by the tradition, wearing a gleam symmetrical to the man on the throne. She was, after all, the daughter of a trickster. She was her father's daughter. _

_Several years ago, when the earth had been past its infancy and into the stages of adolescence, Loki, the trickster god had beheld Freyja, goddess of beauty and wanted her for his own. When he approached her, she denied him and he left, infuriated. That night, he decided he would trick her, and for his own purposes, he fashioned a skin, not of his own and when to her bed disguised as Óðr, her husband. When he lay with her, she became with child, and frightened that his child would be taken away, Loki snuck into her womb and extracted his child. She was born in his own chamber. She looked like her mother. _

_"Child." He says now, "Have you found one worthy yet?"_

_"I have not." She lowers her eyes to hide her scorn._

_"Surely you must have."_

_"I will father."_

_"In all the heavens, none please you?"_

_"I do not wish for a husband."_

_"But I do wish it for you! You must! You are the daughter of a trickster, who's been bound to eternal bondage in the darkness. Unmarried, you have no respectability, but if you chose right, you might be taken care of."_

_"I do not need to be taken care of."_

_He sighed, "Adellene, what do you wish to be done?"_

_"I'll find one among the mortals."_

_His eyes flashed in anger against her defiance, "No! I forbid it, absolutely not."_

_"Father!"_

_The argument continued for several hours, but if there was one thing the God of trickery could not resist, it was his daughter, eventually he gave in. "Alright." He says, summoning his servants, "I'll give you 60 mortal days* to find a man and make him love you. BUT, if you fail, I get to chose who you marry."_

_"Fine."_

_And with that, she was carried away._

_

* * *

_**Seattle, Washington: 2002 **

"Mark!" She called, and he groans, not wanting to wake up, "Mark!"

"Yeah." He mumbles tiredly, wondering how she can be bouncing up in down in the wake of mid-morning grogginess.

"I made pancakes!" She squeals and kisses him gently on the lips before she takes off back in the direction of the kitchen, "Are you coming?"

"Yup." He says, still surrounded by a thin layer of fog and desperately hoping he doesn't trip on anything laden on the floor, he bumps into her floral sofa. Secretly he hates it, officially? He loves it. Just like he loves the various patterned picture hangings he doesn't understand, and the creepy picture of a little kid who he doesn't even know, that is displayed on his living room wall.

"Coffee?" she calls, as he glares at the wedding invitations post-marked back to him with _accept _checked on them and the tiny flags meant to commemorate each accepting guest. "Black." He calls back and walks towards the kitchen, pausing to drop a kiss on his fiancé's forehead.

"When are you supposed to be in?" She asks him as she hands him the sports section of the newspaper.

"Nine-thirty-ish." He shrugs, "I was in late last night so it doesn't really matter."

She nods, "Well I've got to go now." She tells him, "I'll see you there?"

"Yup." He replied, biting into a piece of pancake and watches her as she exits the door, "Bye."

* * *

_Perched on the highest building in the region, she looks across the new country, they call it America and she learns to call it that too. The first of her sixty days on earth has begun with reconnaissance, and it passes with no such luck. The second day she changes cities, confident that she'll find a man worthwhile in this country. Her second day of let-down frightens her more. She resolves one more visit before she leaves the country. It is there that she finds him._

_

* * *

_He walks around Pike Place Market, determined to kill sometime before going to work and stops to buy a dozen fried doughnuts, half powdered and half chocolate. It's strange though, he feels someone watching him. The breeze that floats by causes him to shiver and he looks around but his gaze doesn't meet any eyes, so he continues forward.

He picks up some jewelry, and chooses a sandwich, egg salad, (which he privately hates) for Lexie's lunch while getting roast-beef for his own. Deciding he has sometime left before he has to leave he walks towards the brass pig standing by the fish store and drops a few coins in all while wishing that he not slip up. Wishing he could keep being a good man.

He absently pets its head and then heads off for work.

* * *

_She stares at the man quizzically, she doesn't understand him and that intrigues her. He has grey hair and the wise characteristics of an old man but she found him attractive and young all the same. He smirked light-heartedly and laughed with people who approached him on the streets but there was a pain and hardness in his eyes that she recognized. He was trapped, he was doomed. For what she knew not of. _

_She follows him to a hospital, and then inside to where he works and with that, she decides. He is the man she seeks._

_She sneaks beside a garbage dump and twirls her finger. There she materializes the human form of the daughter of Loki and Freyja. She appears about the same, bar the Godly glow, and she dons a lab-coat and in her mind comes new information. She walks into the hospital and adjusts her nameplate ignoring the stares that she receives as she enters. And from her left pocket the crowd reads the name, "Addison Montgomery, M.D."_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for all the lovely reviews! And please review! I love them and it encourages me to write!

* * *

"_Have you found a target yet?"_

_"Yes father."_

_"Do you think he's worthy?"_

_"I know he is."_

_"Alright. You may not charm him, your magic shall not work against him in anyway."_

_"I know father."_

_"Go with my blessing child, you have 57 days."_

* * *

_Let's start with the moon and the starts, whatever you into---50 cent_

The breeze that propels her back into the hospital leaves the bystanders shivering and wary, but she ignores them, eyes and heart focused on one goal. She saunters in, confidence high, smirking, what human would be able to resist a God? This was before she understood humans. This is before she learned the significance of human emotions as love, pride, morality. Because just as she begun thinking the mission would be easy, the train collides and crashes.

He's with another woman. And they're kissing.

Jealousy devours her body, she bristles. A tremor runs through the room and she forces herself to control it.

"What was that?" someone asked

"Nothing." She snaps and turns to the couple, she would break them up. She was determined.

"Addison!" Someone cries, and she mentally derives that it is Richard Webber, chief of surgery.

"Richard!" She smiles warmly, she already likes the man, "How are you?"

"Good. I hope you enjoy working here."

She laughs, "I hope so too."

"Sloan!" He barks, and she reads his name tag, regretting that she was completely powerless against him. 'Mark Sloan, Plastic Surgery' it said.

"Hi." She says grinning subtly.

"Hey." He smiles back and she nearly blushes, time stops for a second and their hearts collide, and then it speeds up when it comes back to them.

"You're in neonatal?" He's asking, with a slight frown, something confuses him.

"Yup." She nods, trying to keep the breathlessness out of her words.

"Well, I could use a consult, one of my patients is pregnant…"

"Sure." She smiles, "I'd be happy to take a look at it."

He nods and starts to lead the way, "So." He begins, "Where'd you say you transferred from?"

"I didn't." she laughs, "New York. I needed a change."

"Yeah." He sighed, "Sometimes I wish I could get away…"

"Life in Seattle that boring?" She teases.

"Just a little monotonous. "

"Married?" she asks, gesturing towards Lexie who was squealing at a rather frightened child.

"Engaged." He corrects her, "The wedding's in less than two months."

Her eyebrows raised, "That's pretty soon."

He nods.

She laughs, "You scared?"

He shakes his head, "It's just… and I don't know why I'm telling you this."

"I'm a good listener." She says.

"Well, it's just a little hard to reconcile the idea of being with one person for eternity you know?"

His words trigger the sinking of her heart but she ignores the plunging, "You get used to it?"

"You married?"

"What? Oh. No. I'm just… It seems like something you'd get used to."

"Yeah. I guess." He concedes, "Well, here we are." And he opens the door to room 1443.

* * *

_"How's she doing Father?"_

_"It's hard to tell son, let's give her sometime. She doesn't understand that mortals have their own agenda, she'll come back and marry Marcus. And then at least, she'll be wiser."_

_"Shouldn't you go down there?" He watches over her with worry etched on his face._

_"No. Archer. I know she's your sister and you love her, but this she needs to do on her own."_

_"She doesn't take well to failure."_

_"Well, she'll have to learn."_

* * *

He's a little bit light-headed around her, he's unused to someone so beautiful, even in the height of his man-whore days he'd never seen this status of perfection. She had strawberry curls that hung down just below her shoulders, and a curving lip with mischief encoded against her skin. Her laughter rang like tiny silver bells and her voice cooed as doves circling the sky. There was something about her that didn't seem quite human. What it was, he wasn't sure.

Other people seem to gravitate towards her, and while he certainly wasn't immune, it seemed he was the only one capable of rational thought when around her. She smiled and with her came loopy grins, she laughed and the crowd laughed with her.

"She's really pretty." Lexie sighed to her fiancée and he agreed but added tapping her nose, "Not as pretty as you are." He didn't really believe it, but Lexie seemed to buy it.

But just as he was about to turn and pull Lexie away, he swore he could feel a shiver and time stand still, and his eyes widened as he observed immortality. Addison's eyes had changed color, just for a second but he swore, he saw them flash purple. He shook himself and then walked faster. He was having a weird day.

* * *

_"Freyja. How are you?"_

_"Loki." She glared, "You have my daughter."_

_"Do I? I was unaware!"_

_"Don't pull that shit on me! You bastard! You tricked me!"_

_"It was a good night wasn't it Freyja?"_

_"It was horrible." An ebbing seared in his chest area but he ignored it._

_"Look Freyja, she's mine, and she's all I have besides that one," he gestures at Archer, "Go home."_

_"You have my child."_

_"She's on Earth right now, and she's bound for 60 mortal days."_

_"Fine. Loki. Have your way. But when her binding is over, I will take her, and ensure you never see her again."_

_"But…"_

_"Goodbye." And on his heart, she slams the door._

* * *

She's there and naked from the waist up, he wants to touch her but he can't. She smiles at him and pins his arm on either side of him and leans in. And then she disappears and in her place is a deity, white and brilliant but with a flash of charming red. He blinks and she walks towards him, 'I'm coming for you,' she says. And then he wakes up.

2:30. The unforgiving red block letters read.

He doesn't know why he keeps having this dream. Ever since Addison arrived at Seattle Grace three days before, his nights were filled with uncontrolled longing. She always appeared in flesh, and slowly stripped herself topless, about to kiss him and then she would disappear and the Goddess would take her place.

By his side, Lexie snores softly, whistling quietly in her sleep. He shakes himself and rolls to his back, the emptiness of night reverberating through his mind as it twists and functions against his will. What does it mean? And why does it repeat?

He doesn't know. He doesn't sleep.

* * *

_She's frustrated, even with her shirts getting lower and skirts getting higher, and illuminating her goddess-esque beauty slightly higher he has not succumbed. She doesn't understand. Mortals are drawn to sins of the flesh, why hadn't it worked? Why wasn't he hers? She knew he wanted her. She knew he didn't love Lexie. Not really. So what was stopping him? _

_Maybe she should make her intentions more obvious._

* * *

He finds her crying in a stairwell and immediately goes to her side and hugs her. "I'm sorry." She wails, "I just… I hate this."

"Yeah. I know."

"I hate losing them."

"You did everything you could."

"I know!" she snaps and then apologizes quickly, "I didn't mean that its just… I know I did all I could I just wish they didn't have to die."

'Here's your chance ' she thinks, and when he goes to hug her again, slowly, her mouth finds his. He freezes before he responds, naturally, without thinking. Their lips mesh again and again, his hands go to her shirt and slowly, lift it over her head. She buries her hands into his jeans and fumbles with the button.

He unclasps her bra and kisses her shoulders when all of the sudden the dream flashes back. Her eyes turn purple and she's floating, shirtless.

"I'm sorry." He says backing away, leaving her confused and hopeless, "I'm engaged, I can't do this…"

And he walks away.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I am having ALOT of fun writing this story! Haha which is proven because I crossed the two chapter restriction I apparently had... hehe. This is fun. PLEASE REVIEW! And I think an Addek one-shot might be up tonight.

* * *

_Lightning stormed the earth and a gloomy cesspool of darkened clouds hung low and enclosed the sky. "Why didn't it work!" She yelled into the thunder, and it echoed across the land, fertilizing the ground with her anger. _

_"Sister." The words came with the violent hushing of the wind and Archer appeared, bow and arrow slung across his back, wolf fur draped across his torso. _

_"Brother." She growled, scattering leaves, dispersing shivers to find innocent victims to possess. _

_"Calm down," he tells her, "You're brewing a storm."_

_"I can't!" She screams through gritted teeth, and lightning illuminates the rumbling sky._

_"Breathe." He commands, coolly, firmly._

_"I can't." She says, softer._

_"Sister. You must stop this!"_

_"I can't." She says for the last time before she collapses and cries against him. The violent storm turns to a bleary drizzle and Archer wraps an arm around her. "I was humiliated." She tells him._

_"Shhh. I know." He whispers into her hair, "Father has been tricking you."_

_"What?" She exclaims, and violet sparkles light along her eyes._

_"Calm sister." He says, "Not only can you not use any magic on him, but you must win him over without using your beauty."_

_"I don't understand."_

_"You have to understand humans, they're not like us, they take personality into merit, and goodness. He has to fall in love with you, he can't… he can't just lust after you."_

_"Isn't that love?"_

_"No. Love is when conversation flows as wine and death holds no threat. Love is patience and willingness. Love knows no boundaries. Love is the sunlight in the pool of swine. Love is seeing the purple in your eyes and knowing what it signifies."_

_"How do you know all of this?"_

_And there is a brief flicker of pain as he starts to fade, "I just do." He sighs, "I'll erase the unfortunate incident from the mortal's mind."_

_"Thank you brother."_

_"Anytime. I love you sister. Don't tell father I was here. Good luck." And the final parts of his manifestations disappear with the clouds, and in the space he stood, fell a hole of sunshine.

* * *

_

He awoke from yet another nightmare. The worst in several weeks, he's been so close, he thought he could actually feel her, but this time he'd been the one to run away. He turned around and left. Right then and there he determined to never succumb to the temptation.

It got harder when she showed up to work. Despite the downpour outside, she had on a form-fitting black dress that flowed around her and sashayed when she walked. Her hair hung in a cascade of long strawberry curls and landed on soft, pale skin. She was pissed off. She muttered as she walked and stormed past him, yanked a folder off the shelf and went by. He fell in step with her.

"Hey." He said.

Her head snaps up and she glances sideways at him, "Hey."

"You okay?"

"Yeah." She says curtly, knowing that he doesn't remember but hurt nonetheless, "I'm fine."

"Okay… just trying to help." He mumbled under his breath and diverged.

"Wait." She sighs, "I'm sorry. I'm having a shitty morning. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

He grinned, "So have you had breakfast yet?"

* * *

_"Archer." Loki barked, "What were you doing?"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Archer…" his voice carried a warning connotation and the vocal boxes in his throat began to rumble._

_"I just wanted to see her father! I was worried."_

_Loki glared, "Alright, but if it ever happens again."_

_"It won't. I'm sure."

* * *

_

"Thanks." She said shyly, still exhausted from her outburst earlier and slowing to conserve emotional energy ,"I really needed this."

"No problem." He smiles at her as he spreads strawberry cream cheese across his bagel. She takes a bite and inwardly winces, the human drink was okay, but the food in her father's kingdom is far superior.

"So." He says by way of conversation, "What happened this morning?"

"Nothing." She sighed, trying to think up human problems, "I just… None of my clothes matched and my hair looked like shit and my mother called and is made at me, and well my ex… he's a little pissed too and decided to tell me on my answering machine."

"That sucks. I'm sorry." He says sympathetically. She's glad she didn't over do it.

"Yeah it's okay." She laughs, "I have a bit of an anger issue."

He grins, "It goes with the hair."

She chuckles, "Yeah. I guess it does."

"Well a hot latte and bagels is the greatest fix to crappy days."

"Do you think the whole day will be crappy? Because there's still a lot of it to go."

"No. I'm sure it will only get better from here."

"Ah." She laughs, "Touch wood you just jinxed it."

"There's no wood."

"Damn."

"Oh well, you can do it later."

"Yeah."

She remembers to knock, he however, well, he forgets.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Can anyone guess what the predestination is within the lyrics? Its pretty abstract I doubt anyone will. I had fun writing all the poetry though. I should do it some more! PLEASE REVIEW! I know its really selfish but I really want more.

* * *

"_Love will slow the winds of sorrow,_

_Light the darkness of the night,_

_Move the mountains on the Earth,_

_Show when hope seems out of sight."_

_At first the lyrics flowed gently towards her hearing, disguising themselves amongst the background noises, swirling with the hum of respirators, sweeping with the whir of fax machines. The tune is old, an element from the time of Eden, sung by Germanic generations, lost in Ancient civilization. _

"_Love will heal with mellow whispers,_

_Soothe the soul with words of joy,_

_Kiss the lips with sweet seduction,_

_Seal eternity with cooling wine." _

_Vör sang softly in the domain, calling the divine towards her. The weather had told her of a grand appearance, foretold of peril laced in love and given her the song to sing. She called the divine to her._

_ A woman came wandering her way, but she radiated pretension so violently that Vör knew she had found her target. The woman's red hair swept teasingly across her ashen white face and her willowy limbs shone pearl against the darkness of mid-morning. She accidentally bumped into her._

_"Sor..ry." The woman stammered, Vör grinned a slow, gratified grin._

_"Adellene." She smiled, "You have wandered far from home."_

_"Wha…at? Excuse me?"_

_"The wind whispers your name, the muses prophesize your coming."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"Ah. But you are young, you grew confident in your power, you lost sight of what's left to learn."_

_Slowly Adellene gathers together and remembers God-speech and uses it, "If you are to teach, I'll willingly learn."_

_"Daughter of Loki, things as such cannot be taught. I cannot teach you to befriend the winds and the elements, I cannot impart the wisdom of the trees and the leaves and the sky, this you must find for your own."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"Ah. If you had the gift, then you would have known."_

_"You're not Miranda Bailey?"_

_"That is my human name."_

_"And your divine name?"_

_"I am Vör, goddess of poetry and prose."_

_"Why are you here?"_

_"The six protecting goddesses now live spread across six of seven continents of the earth."_

_"You are the goddess of wisdom."_

_"Yes."_

_"Oh." She smiles shyly, curious, "What were you singing earlier?"_

_"I was singing to you."_

_"What was it?"_

_"It's a song from the soul of the earth, whatever you hear engraved as the lyrics will become your destiny."_

_"Can everyone hear it?"_

_"Only the divine."_

_"What does my song say?"_

_And Vör opens her mouth and sings the words again, but this time, to Adellene, the words roll sweetly along her tongue and drop smoothly against her lips and she licks them to savor the song of the earth._

_"What does it mean?"_

_"That is not for me to say."_

_"It's my destiny?"_

_Vör nods, "You will take this meeting, and you will remember the song but in the end, you'll forget, and fate allows you to figure it out."_

_"What if I don't forget."_

_Vör shakes her head, "Oh you will. They always do."_

_"I won't."_

_"Honey." She sighs sympathetically, "You aren't that special." And the song she sang, she sang again.

* * *

_

"Addison, this is Derek Sheppard, our head of neurosurgery." Richard made the introductions following Derek's return from his two week vacation to commemorate his fifth wedding anniversary.

"Hello." She smiles at him, "Nice to meet you."

He studies her curiously, twirls her image in the margins of his mind and she's tickled pleased by him, he hasn't fallen under the spell either. She cocks her head to the side.

"Nice to meet you too," he says, "Richard and Mark have told me all about you." When he mentions Mark warm signals shoot up and down her spine, she grins lazily, content.

"All good things I hope?"

He grins, "All great things, it appears to be the opinion that you are the best in your field."

"Well of course I am," she teases, "Just like you are the best in your field and Dr. Sloan is the best in his field and Dr. Burke is the best in his. And of course Dr. Webber."

"Well you are in the best hospital west of New York."

"Not in New York?"

"That's debatable."

She laughs.

A smaller brown haired woman walks up, sneakers covering her tiny feet, denim donned on her legs. She kisses Derek and then turns to her and Addison notices a spark of warmth flow between them, _'there is love' _she thinks. And soon she'll find it.

The other woman then turns to her and extends a hand, "Meredith Sheppard." She says.

Addison smiles, "Addison Montgomery. I'm your new neonatal."

"I know." The woman returns the gesture, "I've heard all about you."

"And you are the…"

"Neurosurgical resident."

Addison's eyes went wide.

Meredith laughed, "We met when he was my teacher."

Addison congratulates them when Mark comes out of the E.R. and joins them, clapping Derek on the back and kissing Meredith on the cheek, "How was the trip?"

"Oh Paris was lovely." Meredith squeals, "But it's good to be back."

"You were in Paris?" Addison asks, there's a shrine to her father buried beneath the ocean there, he'd always wanted to resurrect it.

"Yes."

"Oh that's amazing."

Meredith smiled and began the narration of the trip, but Addison wasn't paying any attention. Mark's presence began to mitigate her interest.

Derek notices her furtive looks in his direction, and decides to ask his buddy about it later.

* * *

_"Loki, I want my daughter."_

_"You will see her."_

_"You stole her from me."_

_"Freyja. She's all I have."_

_"When this experiment of yours is conducted I want her here. I want her home."_

_"And what would your husband have to say to that?"_

_She clenches her jaw and raises her head in a way that reminds Loki of his daughter, "He doesn't have a say."

* * *

_

"Hey man."

"Hey."

"Listen, don't take this the wrong way, but... what's going on with you and Addison."

"Wha…what?" He looks as a deer in the headlights and Derek thinks he's caught on something big.

"She was looking at you before."

"She was?" And there was this tinge of hope laced in his voice and Derek hopes to God that he doesn't sabotage his newfound purity.

"Mark."

"Okay." He sighs, "I've been having dreams."

"Of… se….sex?" He breathes out the word awkwardly.

"Of her… it's just… I don't know Derek. I love Lexie, I do, but she's a magnet. She's pulling me in and I don't know what to do about it."

"She's not calling you Mark." Derek urges him, "It's your past, its beckoning, don't listen to it. Don't succumb to temptation."

Mark grins, "Dude, that sounded rehearsed. Don't worry about it. It's not a terrible nineties film like you're describing it… I just… there's something about her."

"Ignore it."

"It's not a big problem… I just."

"Mark." He warns.

"It's not a problem." He confirms.

"Good." Derek nods satisfied.

"But I get to think she's hot right?"

Derek laughs, "Yeah. You get to think she's hot."

"Thanks man," Mark slaps him on the shoulder, "It's good to know you got my back. Even if you are quoting cheesy Audrey Hepburn movies."

"I'm pretty sure that's not from a movie."

"Sounded like it."

"Yeah. Right."

And they continue their banter through the hospital, laughing and joking together, grinning and smiling. Acting as brothers. And they continue this act until the ambulance pulls in and Lexie rolls out of it.

"_Hear the symphony of the clouds,_

_Devastation marks her roar,_

_Listen carefully to her tune,_

_She sings to you, she sings to you."_

And he hears it, in the faintest whisper.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: My goal is to get 100 reviews on this story, because I've never reached that mark and it's fairly depressing. I'm such a whiny bitch… anyway haha I love this chapter! I haven't even written it yet as I write this but I know what's going to happen and I'm excited!

* * *

_"What's he look like?" Loki inquired casually of his son as he entered the room._

_"What does who look like?" Archer shot back, confused._

_"Adellene's man."_

_"Oh." Shrugged Archer, "See for yourself."_

_"Hm." Loki thought absently to himself, "I will." And together, they flew towards Earth.

* * *

_

"What happened?" He demanded as blood pounded against his skull, the earth held in suspension, "What happened?"

"Sir, we are going to have to ask you to sit down…" the ambulance driver cautiously rebuked him, but Mark paid no attention.

"What happened!" He roared at them.

"She's in a coma." He heard vaguely in the distance.

"I've got a heartbeat," came swirling from another direction, but time slowed, the earth changed and rotated on a different axis. Just as the air began diverting from his lungs, and the pounding in his head began spreading towards his heart a thread of purple appeared, and dangled itself in front of him. And then Addison materialized, frowning, 'this wasn't supposed to happen.' She muttered to herself, 'this isn't supposed to work!'

"What wasn't supposed to happen?" He slurred at her happily.

She glanced up sharply, "You're not supposed to be in this…"

"Why not?"

"It's… well… nevermind…"

"What?"

"You're not supposed to be here."

He grins at her lazily, "Lexie almost died."

She frowns, "I know."

"I don't know why I'm smiling."

"That's the guard."

"What guard?"

She sighs, "Death will be here soon, maybe to visit, maybe to take someone… Normally it does not disturb the Gods unless they know the person, but I know you and you know Lexie so we're not taking any risks."

He wrinkles his nose, "What?"

"Nevermind." She sighs, "I shouldn't have said that… you won't remember anyway."

He laughs, "Okay. You know what?"

"What?" She asks, sparing him only a second glance, death was never a good friend to her.

"You're really beautiful."

She glared at him, "of course."

"You don't know how much I want you sometimes."

She glares at him, "It's the guard." She tells him.

"So you're a God?" He asks casually.

She sighs in agitation, "Yes." She says, waving her hands in the air, etching the verses of protection into the parchment of atmosphere.

"Why do I feel so weird?" He asks; voice high pitched.

"You're a mortal…" she scrunches her nose in concentration, "usually; you wouldn't get caught in this… You shouldn't even feel it…"

"Well." He grins up at her, "I'm special."

Her eyes seem to soften at that, "Yes." She says, comfortably now, the straining part over, "That you are." And suddenly, the fog is lifted.

* * *

_"She's doing a guard!"_

_"Yes." _

_"Why?"_

_"Probably for the reason it's usually used!"_

_"Who died?"_

_"Did you really think I would know?"_

_"No."_

_"Okay son. Then shut up!"_

_Silence._

_"Which one is he?"_

_Archer's eyes scan the hospital, but when they rest on Mark, his mind begins to palpitate. There, sitting next to his sister, was a human, but instead of a protective bubble shield warding him from seeing, he was within the spell, and the three of them; Adellene, Vör and Mark, glowed their respective colors. Purple, for the line of tricksters, white flame for wisdom, and finally, a dark maroon emulated vaguely from Mark's presence. Odin's color.

* * *

_

The reemergence into human life went about as well as could be expected. White, purple and maroon flames danced on his eyelids and dark bubbling liquid came spilling up his throat and gushed onto the emergency room floor. "What happened?" He gasped at the doctor to his left.

"Sh." Addison answered him soothingly, "You had a panic attack, and you passed out for a second."

_Lexie._ He remembered, "How is she?" He croaks.

Addison sighs and he's surprised to see that her skin radiated beauty, he scrunches his eyebrows confused, 'Great time to check out another girl.' He admonished himself.

She wrapped a slender arm under his body and lifted him up to help him walk towards her room, "She's in a coma," she tells him sympathetically, "we're not sure yet, but there's a very real possibility that she's brain-dead."

He's surprised when the remorse doesn't come and inwardly hits himself; he's entranced by the woman before him, and the rest of the world seemed to disappear in a subtle swirl.

"Oh." Is all he manages to say,"How?"

Addison hesitates and then says, "Okay… this is where it gets weird."

Mark nods.

"Are you sure?" Addison asks again.

Mark nods again.

"Okay… She was… sitting on a toilet stall, when a semi-truck, the driver was drunk, well… he crashed through the wall, and Lexie hit her head on the flushing thing…" _'flushing thing?' Addison thinks to herself… 'Oh well.'_ And then she waits awkwardly for his rebuttal.

It doesn't come. Instead, he wanders towards Lexie's room.

* * *

_"He's a son of Odin!" Loki bellows, sprinkling his vehemence into the clouds, spreading his anger across the sky._

_"She wouldn't!" Archer protested, equally angered._

_"I forbid this!" Loki yelled, "Bring her back immediately!"_

_Archer looked up weakly, "You can't… You cannot undo the binding."_

_"Hmph." Loki said, "Fine. But when this is over… all bets are off!"_

_"You can count on it!" Archer agrees, "Definitely."

* * *

_

Addison comes up behind him, and traces his vacant stare to the corner of the room. She sighs and puts a hand on his shoulder and reaches out to touch Lexie's no longer silken hair. "Don't!" Mark snaps and then shrugs sheepishly, "she doesn't like strangers to touch her."

"What?" Addison replied confused.

"It's a…" he sighs and she can tell it's an old argument, "weird thing of hers."

"Ah." Addison nods, not at all enlightened, "So… how'd you guys meet?"

"Um… well, she was Meredith's sister, and I was specifically told to keep my hands off of her. Which was kinda the point…"

"You couldn't do it?"

He grins, teeth white and shinning, "I can't resist a challenge."

"So why'd you decide to get married?"

Mark sighs, "This is not something I'm proud of, and I have mended it…"

Addison nods, "I'm not one to judge," she smiles, "Really."

"She caught me cheating."

To his surprise, the other woman smiles. "And?" Came in the place of rebuke.

"So I promised I'd change and proposed."

"Wow." She says sarcastically, "How romantic."

He shrugs, "I'm not one for romance."

"You don't believe in romance?"

"I don't believe in love."

She stares at him, "You don't?"

"Nah." He looks at her impishly, "You ever seen Derek and Meredith together? Most of what they do, most of the actions that are defined as being 'in love'… well, it's the most pretentious bullshit on the market. If it's a 'fluttering of feelings and warmth from the soul,' to quote poetry, then I, for one, have never experienced it."

"Neither have I." Addison agreed reluctantly, "I guess I was a… well, I was a bit of a slut." She admits, '_but' _she defends herself, _'when you're the Goddess of both beauty and trickery then you are obliged to flirt a little.'_

"And see." He says, "I never really understood that. Why a girl's a slut but a man is a man. You're hot." He tells her smirking, "You should be able to live!"

She grins appreciatively, "That's what I keep saying!" and then she shakes her head in sudden sobriety, "But no more now. That's over."

"Oh?"

"I want to find that… if it's there." She frowns.

He leans back, "I'm sure you will."

"But you don't believe in it?"

He shrugs, "We can say I'm ambivalent."

She nods, "Yeah. That works… Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Why aren't you too shaken about this? …Lexie being in a coma?"

He sighs, "if I tell you, you'll think I'm a terrible person."

"No."

"I…I… well. Don't get me wrong, I love her, as close to love as I can get… but sometimes, and more recently, it seemed too suffocating, I needed a break, and I was having my doubts. I don't think it's supposed to feel this way you know?"

She shakes her head.

"When Derek got married to Meredith, he was all smiles, he couldn't wait he was so excited. And… this is supposed to be the happiest day of my life, why do I keep dreading it?" He pauses for a moment to look apologetically at Lexie, "I'm supposed to be this better person, but I still keep thinking of what I'm missing out on, what I could be getting…"

The distress merges between them and she longs to caress him and absolve him of this tragedy.

"I want out." He sighs, "I want out but I want to believe I'm a better person."

"Love shouldn't make you feel this way." She interjects, "I thinks it's out there, I think it's tangible… I think, what you're lacking is passion."

"How's that?" The hope in his eyes brightens against the dullness and she finds herself shivering slightly.

"There's flame you know?" and she smiles at him and his heart beats faster, "There's anticipation, and…" she turns her head and her hair falls into her face, he found himself fighting the urge to recover the sight, "There's connection. Love is finding the person who you can always talk to no matter what. I think love is finding the person who you can be so pissed at, but still want to fuck at the end of the day, love is caring enough to fight, love is patient but it is strong."

He nods, "That makes sense…"

"Do you think it's possible?" she asks him earnestly.

He sighs and considers the question, when he doesn't find an answer he responds with the only reply that manifests, "Anything is possible…"

A/N: And now that its done I still like it, it takes the story where I want it to go...


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: If you are really nice, I might post tomorrow before I go camping… bleh, anyway I apparently need to explain a few things…

**History Lesson: **Addellene is not an actual Norse Goddess, she's a fictional one, but in my world, she's the daughter of Loki, the God of Trickery, and Freyja, the Goddess of beauty. Addellene was stolen out of Freyja's womb by Loki after her conception and was raised by him. Odin is the lead God, he is called the 'Wanderer' and he is the host of the grandest halls, where men wish to go in the after-life. Odin and Loki have historically had bad blood between the two of them, and it resulted in Loki being imprisoned for several thousand years. Mark is not Odin's son but is in his lineage, he is possibly the great, grandson of the God, so there is immortality in him. Bailey is Vör, the goddess of wisdom.

_"You made her a deal." Freyja asks incredulously._

_"Yes."_

_"And you want to back out on it?" _

_He nods again, "Yes."_

_She sighs, elongating it in immortality, "You can. You're allowed."_

_"What's the problem then?"_

_"It depends on how much you want it."_

_"I want it."_

_"How much?"_

_"Greatly."_

_"Then let us chant." She looks at Loki, "I think it's for the best, Odin would not be pleased with this turn of events."_

_Loki nods confirming, "Let it be so."_

**Day Fourty-Five of Sixty…**

"How's Lexie watch going?" She asks as she leans over to ruffle his hair and hand him a sandwich.

"Good." He says accepting the offered food "Is it bad that we've trivialized this? I feel like she's a freak show and we're her audience."

Addison shrugs smirking at the tint of green in his grey flecked eyes, "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

Mark sighs, "I feel as if she's better company asleep…"

Addison laughs, "She'll be fine. Day seven of Lexie watch shows no signs of improvement… and a drastic loss of make-up…" She looks down at the sleeping girl and sighs, "I'm a horrible person."

Mark shrugs this time, quirking his eye-brow at her, taking the dangled reassurance, "No, you're not."

"I really am."

"You save babies…"

"True." She pretends to ponder and then smears a smile across her pouting lips, "I've got an addition for our definition."

Mark sits upright and nods at her, "Let's hear it."

"Love." She says, grinning at him, "is complete understanding."

Mark mulls over the idea and digests it before the introspective expression leaves his face, "Then I have a problem."

"With…" Addison nods her head in Lexie's direction and Mark nods, "What is it then?"

"She's…" he struggles to find his wording, "Well let's just say that ultimately, life is about finding the good shit in a shit-load of bull. We subscribe to a lot of pretentious monotony for the sake of subscribing, and we herald things as needs that are just commodities… None of its real and Lexie, she doesn't understand that."

Addison smirks up at him, "You're talking to the queen of designer clothing."

Mark nods without embarrassment, "But you understand, you own up to your pretension, you don't claim these things to be a part of your livelihood… She doesn't understand that… she's innocent and idealistic and doesn't understand the finer tragedies of life… that's just fucked up and sometimes, her idea of 'compassion' is enough to make me want to puke. You don't say, 'I know what you're feeling,' to a kid whose leg got fucked up in a grenade explosion in Bagdad. It pisses me off."

"And you don't assume life's not fucked up if you're pretty right? Or that _you _have had an easy life?"

She reads him with those words, mouths his story and polishes the edges, "What?"

"I misjudged you too… I think most people think you've had it good, fast cars, woman, brains… there's deprecation in you."

"I don't know…"

Addison smiles, "Well life turned out good huh?"

Mark grins weakly, "Yeah… real good…"

_"So." She says, an obvious introduction into a more pressing conversation, "What's she like?"_

_Archer bristles, unsure of how to answer that question, "What do you mean?"_

_"Is she like me?" Freyja urges, insecure, quietly._

_"She's beautiful like you."_

_"But she's not like me."_

_"No. She's not."_

_Freyja's jaw clenches slightly, "How… is she not?_

_"She's less." And Archer treads carefully around his words; he doesn't want to anger a major Goddess; not when his father is at the brunt of many of their tempers. "She's less refined." He settles on, perhaps not the most efficient wording, but definitely the least offensive._

_"How so?" her brow furrows and her eyes contort in concentration, she's trying to discern if it is a good thing or a bad thing._

_Archer shrugs, "She's the daughter of the Goddess of beauty and the God of trickery, she's bound to have a few… promiscuous habits. She's denounced them though."_

_"She has?"_

_"She's looking for love…" Archer chuckles, "Too bad she had to look for it in the one wrong place on the entire earth…"_

_Freyja's sigh rings melodic through the heavens and her smile cracks light towards the break of dawn, "Maybe," she says certainly, "she's looking in the right place."_

**Day Fifty-Five of Sixty:**

There had been a shift, a tremble and a scramble in the paradigm universe that in turn, had translated towards the actual universe. This he knew undoubtedly. He didn't know how he knew, or if he even believed that somewhere out there, an identical earth exists if only for the purpose of controlling this one, but this fact, he knew with certainty.

It was fitting in a way. He had been holding vigil on the side of Lexie's bed, but it was no longer for his beloved Lexie Grey. He came, and sat and mourned for Addison Montgomery. He was pretty sure, as sure can go, that he was falling in-love. She had defined it for him, after all. She'd waltzed into his life and gave him faith and definition for love. She'd proved to him it existed. She'd shown him that she yearned for it.

She lay on his shoulder, his temptation. Along that logic, he supposed, she would be the devil to his Jesus Christ. He laughed, chuckling and shaking slightly and she rolled a little, buried her face into his arm and smiled sighing. He froze.

Along another length of the world's branch, someone was running. He could hear the footsteps pounding inside of his skull, they were sprinting towards life. He saw disappointment flash briefly across Addison's face, and he startled. The person approached, footsteps getting harder and harder until… 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Wow... Only got two reviews on my last story that I worked on for like forever... so you people better review this one! Yeah... I donno... is this still worth continuing? where do you see this fic going? And how am I doing? Wow... was that rude? I dunno... I've been in a shitty mood since I lost my ipod and its STILL gone.  


* * *

_"Hello." Lexie Grey greeted the tiny squirrel, the only other resident of the tree branch she stood on, "could you tell me which direction I should be going?"_

_The squirrel chattered and shrugged and then pointed in a direction, "That way?" Lexie repeated, memorizing it, "That's where I came from."_

_"I don't know." The squirrel said, "But it's the best bet."_

_Lexie thanked the squirrel and started running. She ran along the branch of life, and suddenly… she opened her eyes.

* * *

_

Addison's eyes swirled and churned and hurt, and ocean of purple began swimming against it and she stood up jerkily and walked from the room. She should have seen this happening, only four more days until deadline and his fiancé comes back to life. "Stupid." She repeated as she ran, faster and faster through the halls, towards the end of time.

She ran past nurses, and blood and gurneys with surgeons lying on top of them, she ran past surgeries and nurses and gossip tainting its way down the hall, she ran still until she stopped, the end of the hospital blocking her path. And she looked up, she looked past the ceiling, the roof, the floors of surgeries, the plumbing, the electrical circuits weaving in and out of the hospital; she looked pasted it all and called into the sky, "Archer." She sobbed to him, "I need your help. Come get me."

And with a tinkle and a tiny swish, she disappeared.

* * *

_"Father." She sighed, once more in his court._

_"Did you pass child?" He asked, smirk in place telling he knew the answer._

_She hangs her head and bows, "No sir. Do with me as you please." The resignation held potency in her voice._

_Freyja observes the interaction curiously, the daughter respects the father, as far as Freyja was concerned, he was the only one who'd earned her respect. It was interesting. Loki did not have a good reputation amongst the Gods. _

_"Good." Loki nodded, "He wasn't good for you anyway." Freyja saw the flash of purple pulse through Addellene but said nothing._

_Addellene nodded, "Who is my fate?" she asks. And with glee, Loki prepares to tell her.

* * *

_

It had been two months since Lexie had woke up, and he hadn't seen Addison. In fact, he was avoiding her. But on this day, he was looking forward to their meeting, because Mark Sloan had fucked off decency and broken it off with Lexie. He'd been good, and faithful for her recovery, and now, he could no longer wait.

His determined journey was interrupted by Bailey.

"Sloan?" she drawled.

"Yeah." He said hastily, why was she interrupting?

"I have something for you." She says, and then adds under her breath, "Really? Him?"

Mark follows, confused.

"Addison said to give it to you."

"What is it?"

"Read it you dumb-ass."

When Mark looks confused, unable to open the paper Bailey sighs, "It's her hotel room card. Geez, you'd think she'd pick a smarter one."

This slapped Mark back into reality, "hey!" he protested, realizing as the words came out of his mouth how juvenile they sounded. Bailey only chuckled and walked away. "Good-luck!" she called.

And on he went.

* * *

_It was weird how he could sense things now, after Bailey gave him the envelope. He walked through the hotel door and understood he was to feel loss, he knew with a certainty that Addison was gone. Nonetheless, he walked towards the room. He slipped the key inside and unveiled luxury, rolls and rolls of golden blankets adorned an embellished king-sized bed that lay below a colossal mirror. He looked into it. He immediately understood he was to sleep. He fell into a slumber, and there, he dreamed the darkest sort of dreams_

_He dreamed of reality._

_A hooded figure approached him, and he couldn't see her face but understood he was to trust her. "Mark." She sang, "Marcus."_

_"Who are you?" He asked._

_"Who I am has no importance, I am she who you see in all women, I am the arm that holds men close, I am the kiss of sweet seduction." She smiled at him, "I am the mother of all who love."_

_"Why am I here?"_

_"You are here because of love."_

_"Addison?" he asks._

_She nods, and although he cannot see her expression, he's certain it is solemn. "She is a Goddess." The woman tells him. He nods, it strangely makes sense._

_"You," she tells him, "have the blood in you."_

_"I do?"_

_"Odin, is credited in your lifeline, his blood swells in your veins."_

_Mark laughs, it's funny._

_"You think I kid? This is not a joke." She tells him._

_"Where's Addy?" he asks ignoring her._

_"Oh yes." She frowns, "I forgot you call her that."_

_"Where is she?"_

_"She's been taken home."_

_"Why?"_

_"She's getting married."_

_Mark froze. "To who?" he finally manages._

_"Not someone she loves." The figure coos softly at him, "She loves you. She came to the earth in search of you." And then she says it, quotes it straight out of a fucking novel, "Sometimes, two souls are created together and in love before they're born."_

_And he begins to choke, the surroundings swirl and merge and weld together, and in the darkness comes laughter. At first it's a single strand of laughter, and then its gets louder and louder and louder until he's landed, with a large thump, into some sort of chamber. Another hooded figure sits on the throne in front of him, but he can see his face and derives somehow, that he is in the presence of Odin. He stands up and bows swiftly and raises his head. Odin frowns._

_"You are my son?" he asks._

_"Further down the line apparently." Mark replies. Odin frowns again._

_"What do you seek?" he asks._

_"I'm not sure."_

_"Do you know why you're here?"_

_"I was told, it was in the name of love." Odin frowns again, "Whom do you love?"_

_"Addison." He says firmly, "Addison Montgomery."_

_"Who?" Odin roars, and the echoes reverberate for miles._

_"Addison Montgomery." He says again, his voice crisp, smooth._

_Odin scrunches his nose and wriggles his eyes until finally one of the crows scattered at his feet fly towards his shoulder and whisper to his ear. His eyes widen._

_"What?" He shrieks, and wind howls somewhere in Scotland, "Absolutely not. These bloodlines do not mix."_

_"What?" Mark asks, confused._

_"The daughter of Loki will not be welcomed to my family."_

_"Why not?"_

_Odin glares. "She will not. Do not question me!"_

_The hooded woman appears again and bows three times, slowly leaning her head against the floor, "Odin." She says, her tone calming, soothing, "May I talk to you?"_

_Odin nods quickly and escorts Mark out of the chamber, "wait outside." He commands, and then, without waiting for the reply, he slams the door._


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Is it just me or is season one Meredith not so whiny? Bleh. I was like damn Shondra, I could have liked her. I'm coming around on that. Lexie though? Never.

* * *

_The days seemed to drag on as he tapped irrelevant rhythms into the stone of Odin's hall. From inside the confines of the chamber, he could hear arguing, a deep vibrato rang out with each opening of Odin's mouth and a gentle Soprano which he assumed belonged to the hooded figure who'd promised him hope. _

_Finally, one day, the giant doors swung open and Mark stood prepared to greet whoever had come. No one was there. Surprised, he glanced around spooked until a voice rang out, "Down here!" It said and Mark looked down. At his feet was a pair of identical black crows, eyes so black that they rivaled coal. "Come in," one of them requested, "We've been waiting for you."_

_Confused Mark replied, "But I was waiting for you."_

_"Just come in." The other one said, annoyed, Odin doesn't not like this delay._

_Mark obediently followed, eye-brow furrowed, rubbing his forehead. He suddenly wondered if he was dreaming. _

_"Sloan!" Odin roared from his throne, the noise made Mark wince._

_"Here," he replied quickly._

_Odin paid no attention to his words, just kept on speaking, "We've narrowed down your family tree." He sighed, "Heimdall would not be happy, not happy at all."_

_"What?"_

_"You are Heimdall's son." He informed Mark, "I didn't know my son was gallivanting with mortal women…" he sighed, "but who knows… Anyway, Freyja and I have made a deal." The lady had taken her hood off and Mark gasped, she resembled Addison in a way so maternal, but she didn't look like her at all. _

_"Freyja says she's concerned because love is involved, and Loki wouldn't be happy with this pairing either. And apparently, she is Freyja's daughter."_

_Mark didn't understand what they expected of him. He remained silent._

_"I will allow you to court Addellene, under one condition."_

_"What's that?" he asked, and looked up surprised._

_"You need to be immortalized." Odin said, and Freyja nodded in agreement, "And in order to do that, you must prove yourself as a God or hero."_

_"Okay…"_

_"Would you be willing?"_

_"Anything." He said convinced._

_Odin nodded, "It's strong." He says as he turns to Freyja._

_"I believe so." She says back, leaving Mark confused. He doesn't dare ask though._

_"Okay." Odin finishes, "Your first task, you must capture a star from the sky."_

_"What?"_

_"Goodbye." Is the last thing he hears, and then the world becomes black.

* * *

_

"I don't understand!" Lexie wails, arms flailing comically, tears flying endlessly.

"Shhh." Meredith tells her, "It'll all be okay." She soothes, while mouthing to Derek, 'where'd he go?'

Derek shook his head, and shrugged, anger splayed across his face. He'd thought his friend had turned a new leaf, he thought they'd been over this.

The phone rings in the corner of the room and Derek stumbles towards it, "Hello?" he says, slightly violently into the telephone.

"Derek?" the voice on the other end replies. Derek chokes in surprise and nearly drops the phone. Finally he whispers into it, "Mark? Where the hell did you go? We were worried as shit and Lexie's throwing a fit."

"Tell her I'm okay." Mark replies dismissively, "Listen man, you're my brother, I need your help."

"Where are you?"

"No where… Just… I need you to meet me at Joe's okay? And make sure you don't tell Lexie."

"Mark?" Derek whispers frantically into the receiver, but it's too late, he'd already hung up, "Damn it!"

* * *

_He thought she looked so peaceful sleeping and regrets rousing her but does it anyway. He has to. He needs to. _

_"Wha…?" she asks the air, comprehension not yet sticking._

_"Addy." He smiled, he loved the way she smelled, the way she spoke._

_"Mark…" she grinned in her sleep, "Hi."_

_"Addy." He shook her again, "You're not dreaming, wake up!"_

_"Okay… okay…" she grumbled and opened her eyes, "Shit!" she exclaims but he clasps a hand quickly over her mouth. _

_"What are you doing here?" she asks when she finally gains back her sanity and he smiles._

_"I'm here for you."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Well…" he says slowly, "They tell me I'm here in the name of love…"_

_She grins slowly and then frowns again worried, "How'd they…? What'd they…? My father… What were the terms?"_

_He sighed, "I have to prove myself to be worthy of," and he traces air quotes into the atmosphere, "God-Worthy."_

_She laughs, "They're all arrogant bastards every last one of them… what'd they ask you to do?"_

_"I have to snatch the stars from the sky."_

_She stares, and then hugs him, sobbing quietly, "Oh Mark." She says, "They'll never let us be together you know? That's what they ask you first, and then they'll make you move mountains and fly in the wind… It's never worked… Not one damn time."_

_"Hey." He calls to her, grabbing her wrists, "I love you, I do… I've never, ever felt like this before, I've never even believed it existed… I'd do anything to be with you. Anything."_

_She nods, and he wipes the tears from her face, gently placing kisses where they land, his lips tingle afterwards._

_"I just…" she laughs a bit a frowns, "I'm getting married."_

_"I know." He says disheartened._

_"I don't know how this'll… I love you Mark, I do."_

_"I know."_

_"I just… I don't want to see you die for me… I don't think I could stand that."_

_"You won't have to, I won't leave you." And she nods, "Can I?" she says, and he nods. She presses a hand against her lips and then unbuttons his shirt halfway and presses it against his heart. He places his hand over hers and entwines the fingers, creating a lattice of love._

_"I'll stay alive for you Addy, don't worry."_

_She nods, "I'll try to wait… Hurry though." _

_He grins at her, "For you? Anything."

* * *

_

"Where have you been?" Derek yelled as he intercepted Mark at Joe's parking lot.

"Shhh." Mark answers glancing around, "I think its best everyone still thinks I'm missing."

"What the hell Mark?" And just as he begins to launch into his tirade, Mark takes him by the hand and pulls him through a loop-hole, to another place.

"What the fuck?" Derek swears as he looks around. He's in a forest, and white stars are speckled across a dark sky.

His eyes widen farther when Addison appears from the darkness and loops an arm around Mark's waist. He stands transfixed as Mark whispers softly in her ears and she nods, looking worried. "Are you sure he can handle this?" He catches her saying and he vaguely recognizes that they are whispering about him.

"Mark?" You call.

He looks towards you and takes Addison by the hand, "Derek…" he starts, "This may not make any sense."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're on a branch of Yggdrasil." He offers in way of explanation, Derek looks at him blankly and Addison smiles slightly, although worry is the dominant emotion on her face.

"This is the tree that connects the nine worlds," Mark explains patiently, "We humans live in one, the elves and dwarves live in their own, the giants have three and the God's two." He said.

"Is this some sort of joke?"

Mark shakes his head and gestures towards the trees and a tiny creek running through the medow, "Touch it Derek." He says, nudging the other man forward.

Derek obliges, he submerges his hand in the coolness of the water and traces his fingers along the roughness of the bark, and then he looks back to Mark with wide open eyes, "What mythology is this?" he asks.

"Norse." Mark replies grimly and Derek nods, almost understanding. When the sun begins to peak across the sky, Addison startles and announces, "I have to go." Mark nods and she goes in to kiss his cheek. The slightest light glints off of Addison's face and Derek gasps. Her eyes were dark purple, hair fiery red and skin with a pearly glow. She was, to summarize, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. When Mark caught Derek watching her walk away he smiled, "Now you see why I left huh?"

"What do you need Mark?"

Mark sighed, "I need you…" and he hesitates before finishing, "I need you to hold my heart."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Haha. What appears to be good research is actually the result of my laziness. Because I was writing this fic and was required to do a project on any topic at school, I made the two one and the same. I researched Norse Mythology for school so I could use that knowledge here. But thanks!

* * *

_As the earth spun its daily cycle, Bil, Goddess of the Moon stood watch overhead. The corruption below was getting worse… She didn't like what she saw…

* * *

_

"What?" Derek repeated in disbelief.

To his credit, Mark was patient, "I need you to hold my heart." He said, for the third time.

"Ho…how?" Derek managed to stutter.

"Derek, we're not on the earth anymore, the rules have changed… Here, skin, bones, flesh, they have no meaning. All I'm asking, is for you to sit here, in the middle of this field and cradle my soul."

"How?" Derek repeats, oblivious to the fact that his vocabulary had stunted to include only two words.

"My heart in this terrain is everything that is in my essence. If you go into the stars, gravity shifts, and a part of me may be lost… You're my best friend, and I trust you with my most prized possession…"

"I don't… understand."

"It's simple, but I don't want to ask you to do it if you can't. You sit in this field, which has been blessed by the fates, and meditate, for five days, the five days which I will be gone in the sky. For each hour that passes by, I need you to whisper a secret of mine into this jar… You're the only person I know who knows me this well… I hope… I dunno…"

"What about Meredith?" Derek asks.

"Meredith?" he questions, "What about her?"

"If I'm going to be gone for five days, don't you think she should know?"

Mark hesitates and then sighs, "You're right. Damn it…" he started pacing, thoughts surging through his mind, "Okay." He says finally, "I'm going to go get her, but you have to explain everything to her, we don't have enough time."

Derek nodded, "Okay… I'll do it."

* * *

_"He's actually going to do it?" Archer asked in disbelief._

_Freyja nodded, "Of course."_

_"He'll die."_

_"No." Freyja shook her head, "His love for her will save him. Love will save him."_

_"That's your domain, you have to say that… he'll die, and my sister will be crushed."_

_"She's my daughter," Freyja snapped at him, "Trust me."_

_Archer steamed and grumbled, "Fine." He said bitterly, "But if anything happens…"_

_"It won't." is all she says before fading away.

* * *

_

He ran through the hospital impatiently, estimating the blurred doors until he found her, "Meredith!" he whispered violently, and grabbed her arm before she had time to respond, clasping a hand against her mouth to silence her questions. "I need you to come with me." He says, "Come quickly, it's Derek."

Her eyes widen and she nods, "Okay."

"Okay?" he confirms and then grabs her hand and runs. He takes several wrong turns before he finds the right one, and pulls her along behind him, sprinting over people and medicine alike. When he reaches his destination he looks skyward and without a sound, both of them disappear.

* * *

_"What's going on with my daughter!" Loki demands, walking into Odin's hall, slamming the front doors._

_"What…" Odin looks up and then groans, "What did I tell you about those doors!" he yelled._

_"Fuck you and your fucking doors!" Loki replied._

_Odin sighed, "It's been too long brother."_

_"Don't give me any of your bullshit. What are you doing to my daughter?"_

_"Nothing."_

_"Something."_

_"It does not concern your daughter, it concerns her lover."_

_Loki roared. "She's getting married."_

_"I know."_

_"She lost her chance."_

_"He is getting a chance. But believe me, the last thing I would want, is my grandson, marrying your daughter…"_

_"Grandson…" Loki frowns, "Which one?"_

_Odin grins wickedly, "Oh…" he says, "You didn't know…"_

_"Who!" Loki demands._

_With one word, Odin floors the God of trickery, "Mark Sloan, is Efner, the long lost son of Heimdall."

* * *

_

She awoke in a meadow; the brightest stars she'd ever witnessed were splattered across the dark, crystal sky. "Where am I?" she muttered, shakily standing up.

"Mere?" a voice asked, it seemed to ring longer then it should but she recognized it, "Derek?" she called back.

She's surprised to see him sitting cross-legged on the floor of the meadow, "Derek?" she repeats again, "What's going on?"

"Sit down." He says, and in the corner of her eye she can see Mark, standing near a man with hair like the blazing sun, "There are things I need to tell you."

"Yeah." She says, "Obviously, but first, who is that Mark's with?" she points and Derek smiles his fear.

"That." He says slowly, "Would be Sól, the God of Sun… And the chariot next to him…" Derek paused to prepare her for the new information, "the chariot… is here to take him into the stars."

* * *

_A/N: Efner does not actually exist in Norse Mythology, Heimdall does not have any children. And it doesn't mean anything… just a name I made up for the purposes of this story. And in Norse mythology, Sol is a girl… but a man just seemed more fitting…_


End file.
